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Colour? Just a little: gold, green, red, orange… nothing remarkable 🙄
Family: Sapindaceae · Pot diameter: 19 cm · Height: approx. 45 cm
Acer palmatum Orange Lace (‘SONKOOT9’)® brings orange into the spotlight long before autumn. New growth opens in warm shades and moves into luminous yellow and yellow-green as the leaves mature, while their fine divisions keep the display airy. Upright branches spread gently, revealing the lace-like texture from every side. At the end of the year, orange-red tones bring a second warm highlight before the bare lines of winter are revealed.
Its graceful upright form with softly drooping branch tips creates movement without becoming fully weeping. It suits bright sheltered courtyards and large pots, where the warm palette can be paired with golden grasses and deep green foliage.
Three substantial qualities explain why ‘Orange Lace’ stands out both in close detail and in its overall presence.
Spring growth is vivid orange, summer becomes yellow to yellow-green and autumn combines orange-red shades.
Deeply divided leaves create a fine lace-like texture that lets light filter through the crown.
An upright base and softly arching tips balance structure with fluid movement.
Why you will love it: Warm lace that begins orange in spring and finishes like a small autumn fire.
Use it as a focal point near an entrance, sheltered seating area or in the middle layer of a cool mixed planting. At maturity, it develops a graceful upright crown with softly drooping branch tips and benefits from a calm background and sufficient open space to retain its natural architecture.
For several plants retaining a free natural crown, allow centre-to-centre spacing close to the mature spread of approx. 2 m. In a pot choose a stable base, free drainage and a position where the roots are protected from overheating.
The orange flush and yellow-green summer foliage stand out beside quiet, dark surfaces. The companions remain below the crown and share bright partial shade and organic soil that retains moisture without becoming waterlogged.
Bright partial shade or morning sun, sheltered from fierce midday sun and drying wind.
Water thoroughly when the upper layer begins to dry, maintaining even moisture without waterlogging; check pots more frequently in hot weather.
Deciduous and hardy in winter cold; fresh growth benefits from shelter against late frost, hot dry air and extreme summer exposure.
An ornamental plant, not food. It is not intended for consumption; place it away from children or animals that tend to chew plant material.
Bright partial shade or morning sun, sheltered from fierce midday sun and drying wind.
Plant in fertile, organic, acid to neutral soil that retains moisture yet drains freely. Keep the root collar level with the surrounding soil and allow the natural crown the space indicated by its mature habit.
Use a roomy, stable outdoor pot with unobstructed drainage holes and a structured growing medium that resists compaction. It can grow for years in a large outdoor pot with free drainage and even moisture. As it matures towards approx. 2 m × approx. 2 m, check available root space periodically and move to a larger pot when required.
Let water soak through the growing medium and drain freely from the holes. In the ground, organic mulch kept clear of the trunk reduces sudden drying; in a pot, check moisture beneath the surface before watering again.
A light application of balanced fertiliser in early spring is usually sufficient. Avoid excessive nitrogen and late feeding, which encourage soft new growth.
Pruning is rarely necessary. Remove only dead, damaged or awkwardly crossing branches after leaf fall and before midwinter. A bare crown in winter is entirely normal.
After establishment, new growth begins to develop into main stems and lateral shoots. The young plant can appear more open before its branching fills out.
The crown rises while extending outwards. Fine tips add grace, but the main branches do not form the low cascade of weeping maples.
The orange flush moves into yellow and yellow-green during the growing season. Warm tones return in autumn before natural leaf fall.
Main stems keep the crown upright while abundant lateral branching opens it out. In a garden, it reaches approximately 2 m in height and spread.
Orange-red shades return in autumn. The leaves fall naturally for winter, while the upright framework remains.
What to expect after planting: In a suitable position in open ground, the mature form reaches approximately 2 m in height and spread at a rate that depends on its position. Growth usually remains more restrained in a pot.
Acer palmatum Orange Lace (‘SONKOOT9’)® was bred by Johannes Adrianus Maria Koot in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. In spring 2012, he crossed Acer palmatum ‘Emerald Lace’ as the seed parent with Acer palmatum ‘Orange Dream’ as the pollen parent, seeking deeply divided leaves in yellow and orange shades.
In spring 2016, he selected a seedling that combined these features with broadly spreading, upright growth. The first cuttings were taken in late spring of the same year. The cultivar received US Plant Patent PP33,919 on 1 February 2022, assigned to Botanic Experience B.V.
The leaves of Acer palmatum Orange Lace (‘SONKOOT9’)® have five principal lobes with very deep cuts and fine additional divisions along their margins. This second division creates the lace-like effect; the blade remains one simple leaf rather than a set of separate leaflets.
Lace-like foliage does not necessarily mean weeping growth. In Acer palmatum Orange Lace (‘SONKOOT9’)®, strong lateral branches extend at an angle from the main stems, creating an upright yet spreading form instead of a low dome.
Six practical answers covering light, seasonal colour, pots, mature size, pruning and winter leaf fall.
No. Its crown grows upright and spreads outwards, with fine curves at the tips. The divided leaves do not come with the low domed form of weeping types.
No. The young orange flush moves into yellow and yellow-green as it matures. Warm orange-red tones return in autumn.
Yes, in a large stable pot with free drainage. Choose bright partial shade and check moisture more frequently in hot or windy weather.
In a garden, it reaches approximately 2 m in height and spread. Growth responds to its position and root space rather than following the same timetable in every garden.
It normally branches freely on its own. Avoid repeated clipping and limit necessary removals to the period after leaf fall and before midwinter.
Yes. The seasonal cycle ends in leaf fall and the upright branching remains visible until the next spring flush.
